Exhaust vent bird guard

ABSTRACT

A square bird barrier for non-dryer household exhaust vents. The square barrier is mounted behind the horizontal flaps that are on a pre-existing plastic frame that covers exhaust vent external exit. Pre-drilled holes on the square barrier allow for the unimpeded outbound flow of air from the exhaust vent.

CROSS REFERENCES

U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,181 March 1998 Meyer

U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,319 June 1998 Callaghan, Jr.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,023 June 1999 Meyer

U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,529 October 2001 Preston

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to exhaust venting devices which route airfrom a first location to a second location. The present inventionrelates to house exhaust vents, including, but not limited to, bathroomexhaust vents, laundry room exhaust vents, and kitchen exhaust vents.The present invention is not designed for dryer exhaust vents. Exhaustair from bathrooms, laundry rooms, and kitchens is typically routed froma portal within the specific room, though a conduit, to anotherlocation, usually to the outside of the building. At the exit opening, aseries of horizontal, one-way flaps encased in a square plastic borderis placed over the opening in order to prevent foreign objects fromentering the vent, while allowing the free-flow of outbound air when theexhaust system is in operation.

A problem which continues to affect the operation of the vent system isbirds nesting inside the conduit behind the horizontal flaps. Birds areattracted to the enclosed space of the vent system and lift the flaps inorder to gain access. Birds nesting inside the vent system obstructairflow. The activities of the birds often damage or destroy thehorizontal flaps. The present invention solves this problem.

The present invention is novel and is not obvious. Many households useunsightly items such as chicken mesh when attempting to block accessfrom the birds. Several patented devices are placed outside of thehorizontal flaps protecting the vent and protrude beyond the plane ofthe exterior walls of the building. The present invention is novelbecause it is placed inside of the horizontal flaps and cannot be seenonce installed, except when the vent system is in operation and thehorizontal flaps are open. The present invention is not obvious becausethe other patented devices do not take into account that the horizontalflaps protecting the vent are removable, thus allowing for installationof the protective device within the square plastic casing but behind thehorizontal flaps. Once installed, the horizontal flaps are thenreplaced. The present invention does not interfere with the exhaust exitand is compatible with most styles of non-dryer household exhaust vents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The exhaust vent guard is designed to be mounted on a vertical surfacein order to protect the exit area of an air vent conduit. The presentinvention is comprised of either sheet metal or countertop laminatewhich is cut into a 5 inch by 5 inch or 7 inch by 7 inch square. Rows ofcircular holes are drilled in the center of the square sheet. Thepresent invention envisions the holes at a diameter of ½ inch each.These ½ inch holes are drilled ½ inches apart in horizontal rows. Thehorizontal rows are spaced ¼ inches apart. The holes are thus smallenough to prevent birds from penetrating the barrier but large enoughnot to impede airflow from the exhaust vent. The present inventionenvisions four screw holes drilled near each corner of the square sheet.Each screw hole is ⅛ inches in diameter. Each of the 4 screw holes ispositioned ¼ inches from each of the two sides of each corner of thesquare sheet. Screws are used to attach the square sheet to the plasticcasing used to hold the horizontal flaps that protect the opening ofhouse exhaust vents. When air flows through the vent, it passes throughthe holes in the device, exits the vent system unimpeded and then passesthrough the horizontal flaps.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the exhaust vent guard according to a typicalembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of an installed exhaust ventguard according to a typical embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1-2, illustrated is an exhaust vent guard 10 which isdesigned to be positioned over an exhaust vent outlet. The guard 10 isof a square size. Each of four screws is placed through one of fourcorner holes 11 in the guard 10. ¼ inches of space 12 separate each ofthe corner screw holes 11 from each of the two sides of each corner 13of the guard 10.

Guard 10 is a unitary member that can be fabricated from sheet metal orcountertop laminate which would provide the requisite strength. Guard 10is flat across the front surface 14 and square in peripheral shape.Circular ½ inch holes 15 are drilled in evenly spaced horizontal rows inthe center of the front surface 14 of the guard 10. Each horizontal rowis parallel to line 16-16 as depicted in FIG. 1. ¼ inches of space 17separate each hole 15 in each horizontal row. ½ inches of space 18separate each horizontal row.

Guard 10 is made to fit over the exhaust exit and attach by screws orother threaded fasteners to the originally installed plastic squareframe 19 used to hold the horizontal flaps 20 that protect the opening21 of house-exhaust vents 22 from entry of foreign objects. Installationinvolves removing the horizontal flaps 20 from the plastic casing 19,drilling four holes 23 in the plastic casing 19, and then attachingguard 10 to said plastic casing 19 by screwing a threaded fastenerthrough each of the four holes 11 in guard 10 and then through each ofthe four holes 23 in the plastic casing 19. The horizontal flaps 20 arethen replaced. When air flows through the vent 22, the air exits thevent system through the vent opening 21, and the air passes unimpededthrough the holes 15 in guard 10, and passes through the horizontalflaps 20.

The described invention is to be considered illustrative and notrestrictive. All changes and modification that come within the spirit ofthe invention are desired to be protected.

1. An exhaust vent guard constructed to be mounted for protecting theexit area of an air vent conduit comprises: a square front surfaceconstructed with openings to permit the free flow of air, the size ofeach opening being small enough to prevent the nesting of birds insidethe exhaust vent conduit.
 2. The exhaust vent guard of claim 1 whereinthe openings in the front wall are substantially circular in shape.